Motorcyclist Dies After Being Pinned

Excerpt from KTVU website:

Motorcyclist Dies After Being Pinned Under Van On Bay Bridge

POSTED: 9:15 am PST February 3, 2006
UPDATED: 1:27 pm PST February 3, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO -- A 35-year-old Vacaville man died this
morning after he lost control of his motorcycle and
was pinned under a minivan while riding across the
Bay Bridge toward San Francisco, according to the
California Highway Patrol.

http://tinyurl.com/7qn87

 

That was the first thing I heard when my clockradio woke me up friday
morning.
The subsequent reports seemed more concerned about traffic backing up
than the fact that someone had been killed.
It was very wet and foggy at the time this happened. I wondered if he
was a regular MC commuter or what. 70 mph may be as slow as he could
possibly go, considering the pace most of the traffic on the BB is
noramlly moving at.
The way Caltrans split traffic at the western end of the bridge is
fairly unnerving, and comes up quickly so that if you are not
anticipating exactly what you're doing, it would be easy to f*ck up
right there.
Just a thought: over the last few years traffic on the BB has been
traveling WAY over the 50 mph limit. I almost never see any chp out
there attempting to slow things down. It makes is very dangerous to
actually GO the speed limit or close to it without the fear of getting
rear ended by someone doing 85.
This is the case on 280 south from SF as well. Where 280 joins CA 1
south on the way out of SF, there is something that approaches vehicular
anarchy all the way to the 380 turnoff. I am no puttputt driver/rider
but I am taking alternate ways to work when time allows. I don't like to
start my day by risking my life.
It makes you wonder if the CHP really gives a shit.

My sympathies to the rider's family and friends.


Jim Stinnett
VTR1000
YZF R1
R1100RS
http://www.moto-rama.com

 

You must be traveling on the bridge suring non-commute hours. I've
been doing this route 3 days a week now for 6 years and it's pretty
rare that traffic's going over 60 between 6-9am/4-6pm. Heck, I even
rode my TS100 to work one day and kept up with the rush hour at least.
People do drive like mad idiots though.

I had a Very Scary moment of my own a couple years ago...
On he BB, going to SF, bounced BETWEEN two semis when one 'corrected'
over and closed the gap between the lanes.
SCRAWP <left leg on duals> SQUEEK <right leg + pipe on duals of other
truck> *me figuring out what the non-death option is gonna be* MUCH
braking action applied and back through the gap. I had a nice sidewall
track on the pipe. All over in 5 seconds, with a couple hours of that
awful sour stomach from adrenaline overload.

-Anton

 

Every time I've jumped on the BB, before 7:30am, heading into SF from TI, on
a Friday....

It is a fast flowing madhouse. Friday commute traffic is lighter than usual,
I routinely find myself being passed on the BB when *I* am doing 70+ early
in the morning. In fact, that friday I outran the fuel feed on the drz twice
because I was going 75+ indicated...IN THE SLOW LANE, all the way to redwood
city..

6am on a Friday, on the BB is going to be a pretty fast commute especially
once you get past the booths and through the tunnel. I leave from TI, so
most early fridays are pretty much a flat out drag-race leaving the island.

Now...once you get to that snafu around the western end by 5th
street....that can come to a screaming stop as people flail around because
the road suddenly turns...then it picks up again...

Any other day of the week, traffic usually sucks.

Friday is a different beast entirely.

 

Yoicks. I'm glad you weren't made into a rug.

Ah yeah.. ever since seeing someone's insides all wrapped up around the
rear axle of one of those, I'm pretty goddamn cautious about splitting
between 2 of those guys, even just lingering alongside one for too
long..

 

Not enough details to reconstruct. "Starting to swerve" could be mechanical
failure, arcing through traffic, or twitching the bars while in lane.
Hitting the catwalk/curb? Lack of attention to lane position? It's good to
remember that the tiniest of accidental rider input errors, at the wrong
time, can spell the difference between an oops and a tragic death like this.
I heard that witnesses reported that the biker was doing 70mph at the time.
That's probably because traffic was moving at 70mph. An '03 CBR? Go
figure. Gruesome media event. Poor guy--hope it was quick. What about the
mini-van family---imagine explaining that to three kids. Or the mini-van
itself. I think it should be crushed into scrap. That way no one can start
an e-bay motors company that specializes in selling "killer vehicles" ala
Christine meets net for profit.
Later!
Alex "I'm gonna re-read a moto safety book tonight" C.

 

I gotta say, the DMV motorcycle manual is the BEST! It takes time to
internalize all the things described, but I think I'm more or less
there, after riding since 1976. I have a copy in the bathroom, for those
sessions that will take longer than 30 seconds, and I'm always amazed at
how damn good that booklet is!